Posts Tagged ‘windows phone 7’

1. Windows Phone 7 Firestarter–Hampton Roads

   Posted on September 8th, 2010 by Kevin

   Microsoft events are starting to roll across the country, and especially here in the Mid-Atlantic, for Windows Phone 7.  Unluckily, the good folks down here in Hampton Roads didn’t have much choice when it came to events we could realistically attend.  We either had the event in Chevy Chase, MD or Raleigh, NC.  That’s a minimum 3.5 to 4 hours one way to attend a Firestarter.

   For a product as large as Windows Phone 7, I think that Hampton Roads (as well as our surrounding areas) needed an event to get the word out and teach people about how easy it is to developer Windows Phone applications.  That’s why on Saturday, October 23rd, 2010 we’re hosting our own Windows Phone 7 Firestarter.

   Big thanks goes out to Dave Isbitski for providing us the materials we need to offer this Firestarter.  This event will be presented by Kevin Hazzard, Paul Telkamp, and myself.  Community at it’s best!

   If you’re interested in join us, please head over to the registration site for information:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

2. Windows Phone 7 in 7 Minutes

   Posted on August 12th, 2010 by Kevin

   Kevin Hazzard talked about a great resources for Windows Phone 7 developers at the August meeting of the Hampton Roads .NET Users Group.  Over at MSDev, there are a series of web casts called “Windows Phone 7 in 7”.  All these videos are about 7 minutes long, and they’ll slowly introduce you to developing Windows Phone 7 applications.

   Visit Today!

   Wanna try before you go to the site?  Here is the first video in the series:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

3. Windows Phone 7 Developer Refresh

   Posted on April 30th, 2010 by Kevin

   If you’re like me, and you’ve been waiting for an update to the Windows Phone 7 developer tools, you’re in luck!  They were released yesterday!

   My major grip about the first release was that I *had* to install Visual Studio 2010 Express.  I have nothing against the express tools, and I think they’re awesome if you’re a hobbyist developer with a low budget.  Express does everything the regular versions do, with exceptions.  However, I have Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate… why should I have to install Express as well.

   The Windows Phone 7 Developer Refresh actually doesn’t fix the need for Express.  What it does add is support for the templates inside of Visual Studio 2010, if you have another version installed.  The only annoyance you’ll see is that you have Start menu items for both Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2010 Express. 

   Everything seems to be working fine from my end, so I suggest you go and get it today!

   Link to Windows Phone 7 Developer Refresh

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

4. The Definitive Post-MIX10 Review

   Posted on March 25th, 2010 by Kevin

   So I didn’t go to MIX. 

   Budgets and such can be a real pain.  Simply put, there wasn’t any money for me to go to MIX this year.  But I’m not going to let NOT going to MIX10 prevent me from writing a (if not THE best) review of MIX.

   Windows Phone 7

   I applaud Microsoft for changing the name, because the “Windows Mobile” line has really left a stale taste in the mouths of people across the world.  I’m very impressed by the new UI, and it shows that Microsoft is really ready to step up the game against the iPhone and Android.

   I’m a native Android user.  It’s a terrific device, and I tell people it’s the best phone I’ve owned *thus far*.  When I’m up for renewal, I have no qualms against getting a Windows Phone.  The developer experience alone is reason enough for me to get one.  I love the idea of being able to take existing XNA and Silverlight applications and porting them to the Windows Phone.

   I’ve been thinking about the whole “no copy and paste” and “no multitasking” issues.  Copy and Paste doesn’t bother me.  My Droid supports it, but I think I’ve only used it in maybe one or two cases.  Instead, I’d like to see context sensitive selection.  If I select a phone number, let me put it in a new contact, call it, add it to an email, whatever.  I don’t need copy and paste if the phone knows what to do with what I’ve selected.

   I’ve shunned the iPhone for no multitasking, and my Droid does it natively.  But sometimes multitasking can be a huge drain on the battery life of a phone.  I’ve seen my Droid use 100% of its battery in 4 hours (without me touching it).  While it might take some getting used too, I’m not going to fault the Windows Phone for not having it. 

   Internet Explorer 9

   I downloaded the technical preview.  If you haven’t, I would do it right now.  One thing I noticed right away is that the JavaScript engine is leaps and bounds faster than what I’m used to seeing.  It’s great to see Microsoft pushing forward on web standards such as CSS3 and HTML5, instead of pushing people to use Silverlight for all of their web development.

   Don’t get me wrong, Silverlight is a fantastic technology and it is far better than Adobe Flash will ever be.   That does not mean it is a one-shot kill for all line of business applications on the web.  In fact, I still prefer to do a lot of work using traditional HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.  Once we can kill off IE6 (and IE7 too), we’ll be in a position where developing web pages isn’t a total pain in the butt.

   I’m looking forward to seeing the final product in a few months.  I’m hoping that Microsoft spends more time either improving the developer tools for IE or making IE pluggable so someone else can write better developer tools.  “But Kevin, what’s wrong with the IE developer tools in IE8?”  Go use Firebug for 10 minutes and you’ll have answered your own question.

   Conclusion

   This is a great time to be involved in technology.  If you’re not willing to adapt, you will be left behind.  I’m going to start saving for MIX 2011 now, because I think we’re going to continue to see great things come our way!